About

I’m Forrest the mastermind and sole builder of Desoto Asylum since we began.

I’ve always had an interest in creating things that others enjoy and remember when I was in high school setting up a small Blair Witch “haunted house” on Parkway Street in the late 90s.

For years after I was unable to do anything for Halloween, but in 2008 moved into our current house and had the ability to set up a haunted house again. Our first impromptu haunted house was very simple, nothing more than a bunch of plastic walls nailed on a 2×4 frame with jump scare spots along the way.

While planning the second year of our haunted house I had more time to plan and look for ideas. While looking online I came across a post on Facebook about a page called Haunts Against Hunger, a group of haunted houses collecting food for their local communities, and immediately loved the idea.

I don’t remember collecting much those first couple years but we continued to run our food drive each year, and each year we got bigger, had more attendance, and collected more.

By 2011 we had pretty much reached the limit of what we could do with plastic walls. We had also experimented with a second smaller “Barnyard” haunt made entirely out of pallets and plywood and some corn stocks. (Didn’t take many pictures that year)

The following year while planning for 2012 it was decided that we should downsize and try to make the whole haunt out of pallets and wood and that we should center on a theme, Desoto Street Asylum was born!

In the following years, we continued to work at getting bigger and better.

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

It was around this time that people began asking why we didn’t charge. I would usually reply with something about not wanting to deal with the hassle, I was doing it for the fun not for money, or that I was planning on doing it but never got around to it. Truthfully, I was busy and had more important things to do than figure it out so it was always one of the many things that never got done, and more so, I didn’t feel like we had a good enough experience or show to be asking people for money.

2019

2020

Fast forward to now and the last few years, pretty much since the pandemic we have been having killer years and breaking records by large margins each year with attendance, food collected, and guest satisfaction. In 2024 we collected 1,36 pounds of food and look forward to breaking that record and in 2022 we had 1,928 people go through the haunt.

2021

2022

2023

As I think of new ways to grow some possibilities come to mind, some of which require that we start asking for donations. Based on how much donations we get we have two ideas in mind. One is to simply expand what we have and continue to improve it. We have the space to at least double in size. Another possibility is to rent space like the El Garces building and make a new haunted house based on that building’s.

Both ideas require that we start asking for donations to fund our expansion and upgrades. All donations will only be used for the haunted house and just like the way we handle the food drive right now; donations are not required for entry. At least at our current location; not sure about a rented location. For now, we won’t turn someone away, all are welcome in the Asylum.

NEW FOR 2024

MADE POSSIBLE BY THE DONATIONS FROM 2023

Desoto Asylum Escape is an extended haunted house experience where you will be directed into an unexplored part of the asylum. It’s a race again time to find your way out before you are captured.